We Carry On
by Beckett Towns
Summary: Sequel to Surprise.  Jessie starts being secretive and distant, and Kate becomes worried. What's going on with Jessie? And why won't she tell Kate?
1. Chapter 1

_**This is a sequel to my story, Surprise, but I don't think it's crucial to read that one first. The only thing you may be confused about at first is that Jessie is Kate's daughter.**_

_**This takes place about 6 months or so after Surprise ended, and Kate and Castle have been dating the whole time. Just some background info.**_

* * *

><p>Kate was just putting the last touches of her makeup on, leaning over the sink and getting ready for Rick's book release party, when Jessie walked into the bathroom.<p>

"You're not even dressed yet?" Kate asked her, and Jessie sighed, her shoulders sagging.

"Do I have to wear the dress?" Jessie asked in a slightly whiny voice. Kate smiled affectionately as she stood up. Jessie had been trying to get out of wearing a dress to this party since she was told that she had to.

"Yes, Jessie." She told her, "You have to wear it."

"I'd rather wear a pair of cutoff jeans than a fancy evening dress." Jessie replied, and Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Stop quoting Brad Paisley and go get dressed." She told the teen.

Jessie pouted slightly, but walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her dress from the bed in the other room.

Kate and Jessie had spent two hours in a hair salon, and Rick had bought them both beautiful dresses to wear. Kate had tried to pay for the dresses herself, but Rick had refused to let her.

Kate had done Jessie's makeup first, something else Jessie didn't want to wear, and then had done her own. She had thought Jessie was going to put her dress on while Kate did her makeup, but apparently she wasn't.

Kate stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror. Her dress was green, and brought out her eyes. It had a sweetheart neckline, and fit like a corset down to her hips, where it became just slightly looser.

She had to admit, Rick had good taste in dresses.

Jessie came back then, in her own dress, and Kate was amazed. Jessie looked so much older with makeup on and her hair all done up, even with the scowl on her face.

"Mom." Jessie stated, "You're staring." Kate smiled again.

"You look so old." She told her

"Mom" Jessie groaned, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. Kate laughed. She definitely wasn't acting any older.

"Sorry." Kate apologized, stepping closer and pulling her daughter into a hug. There was a knock at the door. "That would be Rick." Kate said, releasing Jessie to answer the door.

"Wow." Rick said in greeting. He had imagined her in that dress, which was part of the reason he bought it for her, but he was always amazed at how beautiful she was. "You look… wow." Kate laughed.

"You know, for a writer, you really need to learn some new adjectives." She stepped back and let him enter her apartment.

"Is Jessie ready?" He asked

"Yeah, although she's not too happy about having to wear a dress or makeup." Kate replied as Jessie came out of their bedroom.

"I feel fake." She grumbled.

"But you look great." Rick told her, receiving a glare in return. "So, are you ready to go?" he asked both of them, "There is a limo waiting outside." Jessie's eyes lit up slightly, and Kate rolled hers.

"A limo!" Jessie asked excitedly, and Rick nodded, smiling and matching her enthusiasm.

"A limo?" Kate asked, sounding slightly annoyed. Rick put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Yes, a limo."

"Why?" Every time there was a limo outsider her apartment building, there were paparazzi outside her apartment building. And she _hated_ when there were paparazzi outside her building.

"You know we can't show up to a book release party without a limo." Rick told her as he led the way out. She did know. She had been expecting a limo, but that didn't mean she liked it any more.

* * *

><p>After the party, it was late. Very late. Kate, Rick, Jessie, and Alexis (Alexis had been in the limo when Rick had come up to get Kate and Jessie) were heading back to Kate's apartment. Jessie had fallen asleep lying on one of the bench seats in the limo, her head resting on Kate's lap. Kate was taking all the bobby pins out of Jessie's hair. Alexis was trying not to fall asleep.<p>

"Do you want to just go back to my place?" Rick whispered, and Kate smiled, looking down at her daughter, and then over at Rick.

"Sure." Rick smiled too. Six months ago, Kate would've fought going to his loft that late at night, especially with her daughter.

Kate and Jessie had both somehow ended up with some of their clothes at the Castle loft, so Kate wasn't worried about them only having their fancy dresses to wear. She knew Jessie wouldn't mind. It wouldn't be the first time since Kate and Rick had started dating that they spent the night at his place.

Rick got up and told the driver about their change of plans. He nodded and changed course silently.

They got to Rick's apartment a few minutes later.

"Do you want me to take her?" He asked, nodding at Jessie. Kate shook her head.

"No, I got it." She replied, lifting her daughter out of the car.

"Are you sure? She isn't too heavy for you?" He got a glare in return.

"Rick, I got her. She's fine." He shook his head. She could be so stubborn sometimes.

* * *

><p>It didn't matter how late the night before had been, Kate could almost never sleep past 8:30, even when everyone else seemed to be able to sleep until noon. So that was why she was alone in the Castle kitchen the next morning, reading the paper, when Rick came down the stairs around ten.<p>

"Good morning." Rick greeted her, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot.

"You're up earlier than I expected." She replied as he kissed her cheek.

"The bed got cold." He shrugged and walked around the counter to sit on one of the stools.

He watched Kate read the paper in silence for a few minutes, Kate pretending not to notice, before he said seriously, "This is stupid."

Kate set down the newspaper and looked at him, her brow furrowing. "What is?"

"This. You spend just as much time here, just as many nights here as you do at your place. Move in with me." He shocked her by getting straight to the point.

"Rick…" her tone of voice told him she wasn't going to agree as easily as he had hoped.

"I love you, Kate, and it's stupid for you to keep paying for your apartment when you're barely over there. And what about when you don't get home from work until really late at night? We both know Jessie can't fall asleep when she's the only one in the apartment. If she was here, even if neither of us were here, Alexis probably would be."

Kate knew everything he was saying was true, but she wasn't sure she wanted to take that big of a step yet. What if they didn't work out? It would be hard enough for all of them without Kate and Jessie not having a place to live.

"Alexis is going to college soon. She won't be here then."

"Then I'll come home and make sure Jessie is ok. Listen, Kate, when Alexis leaves, I'll be lonely." He pretended to pout, but Kate was unfazed.

Kate knew Jessie had moved around a lot-the exact number she was still unsure of-before Kate had gotten custody of her. She had just moved again, into Kate's apartment, six months ago. Kate didn't want to make her move yet again.

"What about what Jessie thinks?" Kate asked, her voice coming out louder than she'd meant it to. "Have you asked her if she wants to move again? Have you asked Alexis if she wants us to move in?"

"Of course I asked Alexis. She would be thrilled if you moved in. She loves you. You know that." He paused. "But, no, I haven't said anything to Jessie." He admitted, "I was going to ask you first."

"She's moved so many times. She needs to have a stable home for once. You want to uproot her again?" She asked him. Rick was starting to loose his temper too.

"Stable? You call this stable? She falls asleep in the car and doesn't know where she's going to wake up, and you call that _stable_? She spends half her nights here, half at your apartment. She wakes up, and never knows where she's going to end up sleeping that night. I don't know if you call that stable, but I know I sure don't." Kate tried to reply, but Rick continued, "And I know she doesn't mind living here and at your place, or at least she doesn't act like she does, but truly, Kate, that isn't stable. Hell, half her stuff is already here. It wouldn't really be moving anyway."

Kate started to say something, but stopped herself. She didn't want to fight with him; especially not when both of their daughters were upstairs and could possibly hear them. She walked past Rick and toward the door.

"Where are you going?" He asked, and it was his turn for his voice to be louder than he wanted it to be.

"Out." She said simply and without turning around. "I need to think"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Wow. Ok, so when I started this fic, it was going to be completely different. The other first chapter I wrote would've made this a completely different story. I'm not even kidding, none of the same things happened. <strong>_

_**But anyway, I thought this would be better. Hopefully ya'll like it. **_

_**Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'm going to try this new thing called actually replying to the reviews I get!**_

_**Oh, and I actually have a plan for this one. The last one I came up with a plan about halfway through it.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Half an hour later, Kate sat on the floor in the guest bedroom, next to the bed. She had tried to think outside, but the noise of the people and cars on the streets were too loud.

She was waiting for Jessie to wake up, but she really needed to think about what she wanted to do, and this seemed like the best place for thinking. It was quiet, and nobody was going to bother her.

Jessie was sleeping with her head where her feet should be on the bed, and her feet where her head usually was. Kate didn't know why she did it, but she did know that she would only lie that way if she had a nightmare. Her nightmares were getting less and less frequent, but they still came occasionally.

Kate still didn't know what the nightmares were about. She had asked Jessie once, but Jessie had closed up and refused to talk about it. Kate had seen the fear in her eyes, and hadn't asked again.

She looked peaceful now, but Kate couldn't help but wonder what her nightmares were about. She felt that she couldn't comfort her daughter properly, when she didn't know what she was comforting her from.

"You know that's really creepy when you do that, right?" Kate had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Jessie's eyes flutter open, and only know realized that she had been staring at the teen.

"Sorry. Yeah, I do know how creepy it is; Rick does it too." She replied, and Jessie smiled

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" She asked rhetorically. "Really though," she started, sitting up and leaning against the wall next to the bed, "Why are you watching me sleep, other than to creep me out?"

"I was waiting for you to wake up."

Jessie looked at her suspiciously. "Why?" She asked slowly and cautiously. Kate took a deep breath.

"Rick wants us to move in with him."

"Mom-"

"I mean, I understand if you don't want to," She said quickly, "I know you've moved a lot, and I'm sure you don't want to move again, so it's fine if you don't want to."

"Mom-" Jessie said a little more forcefully, but she was interrupted again.

"I'm not even sure I want to move in, I mean, that's a big step in a relationship, and since we both have kids, it's different-" Kate rarely talked so fast, but she was nervous, and now she was just rambling.

"Mom!" Jessie almost yelled, finally getting Kate's attention. "How different would it be? I mean, we basically already live here." Kate sighed in relief. She was glad Jessie hadn't completely rejected the idea. She seemed more willing than Kate did.

* * *

><p>Kate walked over to the couch where Rick was watching TV and gave him a hug from behind. He looked up at her and sighed.<p>

"Listen, Kate, I'm sorry if-" He started, but Kate interrupted him

"Yes."

"Yes, what?" He asked, confused

"You're right. It's stupid for me to keep paying for my apartment when we're hardly over there."

"You'll move in with me?" He asked, trying to keep the excitement from his voice. When she nodded, he jumped up, turned around and kissed her.

"There are minors in the room." Jessie commented as she walked past them to get to the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

><p>"You guys are going to work?" Jessie asked, sounding stunned<p>

"I'm going to work." Kate told her as she was putting her heels on, "He's tagging along."

"But I thought you weren't working today." Jessie said, ignoring the joke

"We weren't, but someone was killed." Kate told her, "I can't control that. If I could, it would never happen." Jessie thought about that for a minute while Rick was getting his sneakers on.

"Can I come?" She asked suddenly

"What? No. To the crime scene? No."

"Why not? I won't touch anything!"

"That's not what I'm worried about." Kate told her.

"What, me seeing the body? I've been to the precinct; I've seen pictures of dead bodies. Even that creepy one when the guy was decapitated." Both Kate and Rick were surprised at how normally she said it; like it was an every day occurrence.

"I know, but real bodies are different." Jessie pouted, but Kate continued, "You're staying here. Be good."

"Uh-huh." Jessie replied as Kate and Rick walked out the door.

Once it had shut behind them, Rick said, "I'm glad it wasn't me having that fight with her. She would be coming with us if I had been."

"And that is why I'm bad cop, and you're good cop."

* * *

><p>"What do we have?" Kate asked as she approached the small stream Lanie was standing in.<p>

"I have numb toes." Lanie answered.

"It's summer." Castle informed her

"That doesn't make this water any warmer."

"Who's this?" Kate asked, motioning to the body that was being held in place by some of the large rocks in the stream.

"According to the driver's license, his name is Harley Pittman, 42. COD is drowning. He has cuts on his arms and chest, but I don't know yet if they're from the rocks or something else. If there was any blood, the current took it away."

Kate nodded "Time of death?" She asked

"Within the past three hours."

Once CSU said it was OK for them to take the body out of the river, they found out that there was an empty bottle of whiskey in his shirt pocket.

"What, he got drunk and fell in the water?" Castle asked, receiving an amazed stare from Kate in return.

"I think that was the most normal theory you've ever come up with. Ever." She told him, and he shrugged.

"I try to keep you on your toes."

* * *

><p>"Miranda, did your step-dad have any enemies, anyone who might want to harm him?" Kate asked the blonde fifteen-year-old in front of her. She didn't seem upset that her step-father was dead, Kate made a mental note. In fact, neither did her brother, a seventeen-year-old with the same blonde hair as his sister.<p>

"Not that I know of." The boy answered. "But we've only known him for a little more than a year." The way he answered impressed Kate. The question had been intended for his sister, but he had answered for her almost… protectively. The girl nodded her agreement.

They heard a door open from the front of the apartment, and the boy jumped up. "Mom's home." He said, and walked quickly out of the room. When he came back with a woman about the same age as Harley, Kate suddenly understood why Harley's step-children didn't seem upset about his death.

Even through the makeup she had tried to cover it up with, Kate could still see the bruises on the woman's face.

After interviewing the mom and coming up with nothing new, Kate got up to leave, and Miranda jumped up too.

"I'll… uh, walk you to the door." She explained, and led Kate out of the room.

"Miranda." Kate said softly when they reached the door, "Did Harley abuse your mom?" Miranda looked at Kate with tears in her eyes and nodded.

"Yeah. When he drank. Which was pretty often." She whispered, and that was more helpful than anything else anyone had had to say in that interview.

* * *

><p>That night at about 10, Jessie came into Castle's loft as quietly as she could. Kate couldn't see her facial expression because of the sunglasses that were covering half her face, but she could tell the teen was nervous.<p>

Jessie hadn't come home for dinner, and she wasn't answering her phone. Kate had started to worry, but there was really no other way of finding her. Kate had even tried calling Jessie's friends, but no one seemed to know where she was. All Kate could do was wait for her to come home.

"Where were you?" Kate asked from the couch, causing Jessie to jump about a foot in the air.

"Oh…uh, I was... out…" She stammered before walking up the stairs a little too fast to be considered calm.

"What was that about?" Rick asked.

"I have no idea…" Kate said, still staring after her daughter.

* * *

><p><em><strong>:) Review? Please? Thanks in advance.<strong>_


	3. Chapter 3

Jessie came down the stairs the next morning wearing her sunglasses again. As she leaned over the counter to get an apple, Kate noticed something that looked suspiciously like a bruise just under her sunglasses. She turned Jessie's head lightly, holding her chin, and slowly took the sunglasses off her face, revealing large, black, and dark purple bruising around Jessie's eye, as well as her eye being almost completely swollen shut.

"What happened?" She asked

"Nothing." Jessie mumbled, not looking at her mother

"Obviously _something_ happened; eyes don't just turn black because they want to." Rick told her, receiving a 'not helping' glare from Kate. She let go of Jessie's chin, but held on to her shoulders so she couldn't get away. "Who did this to you?"

"No one." Jessie muttered, looking at the ground.

"Is this the only bruise you have?" Kate asked as she gently touched the mark. Jessie hesitated before shaking her head.

"Where else?" She asked, and Rick noticed she was using the same tone of voice that she used when talking to victim's families.

Jessie hesitated again before lifting up her shirt slightly to show Kate more bruising on her stomach.

"Jessie," Kate said exasperatedly, "What happened?"

"Nothing. I'm _fine_." She jerked away from Kate, and she let Jessie grab her sunglasses and go. She wasn't getting any answers from her anyway. They both watched her go out the door in silence, but once the door shut Kate was up off her seat and on her phone.

"Yeah, Ryan, can you-" She stopped when the phone was yanked out of her hand.

"No, Ryan, she doesn't need you to do anything. We're coming in soon." Rick hung up the phone and handed it back to Kate.

"What was that?" Kate asked angrily

"You can't go follow Jessie around." Rick told her

"But I want to know where she's going"

"I know, so do I, Kate. I love her too. But you know her. She'd notice if someone was following her, you know she would." He gave Kate comforting hug. "And then she'd get mad and shut us out even more." Kate sighed in defeat and wrapped her arms around him.

"I know."

* * *

><p>"What was that call about?" Ryan asked Kate as she and Rick walked into the bullpen later that morning. Rick shook his head quickly behind her and mouthed 'Don't ask'. Ryan shot him a confused look, but dropped it. Kate ignored the whole exchange, and went right to the murder board with her game face on.<p>

After a few minutes of silence, Rick walked up behind Kate and whispered, "Are you ok?" She had been staring at the murder board, and Rick didn't know if she was thinking about the murder, or Jessie.

"As far as I'm concerned, anyone in that family had motive. The kids alibied each other out, but one of them could be covering for the other. " She told him, thinking of how protective Sam had seemed of his sister.

Apparently she had been thinking about the murder. Or at least, that's what she wanted him to think. God, she was good at pretending to be ok. She sighed.

"I need coffee." She said as she walked away.

Well, not that good.

Rick followed her into the break room and leaned against one of the walls as she poured her coffee. He desperately wanted to touch her, give her some sort of comfort, but she had made it clear soon after they started dating that he wasn't allowed to do that in the precinct.

"You're not ok, Kate" He informed her, wanting her to know that she didn't have to pretend like she was; wanting her to know that he knew her better than that.

"Someone beat her up, Rick." She said, turning around and leaning against the counter. "Why would someone beat her up?"

Rick shook his head. "I don't know. Although, we don't know what the other person looked like, maybe Jessie won." He said, trying to lighten the mood, "She hits pretty hard."

"She says she's fine; she's not fine." Kate ignored his attempt. It didn't make her feel any better.

"I know, Kate."

"Hey, guys-" Ryan stopped when he took in the mix of worry and sadness on Kate's face. "Am I… Interrupting something?"

Kate shook her head. "No, what have you got?" Ryan hesitated, looking between the two, before speaking.

"Lanie just called. She said you should come down." He told them before ducking out of the room.

* * *

><p>"What's up, Lanie?" Kate asked as she and Rick walked through the doors to the ME's office. She tried to sound normal, but her voice was slightly off, making Lanie give her a concerned look.<p>

"What's up with you?" She asked, and Kate gave her a fake confused look.

"What? Why do you think something's up?" She asked innocently

"Oh, don't give me that. I know you, girl. Something's wrong."

Kate sighed in defeat. "Ok, yeah, something's wrong, but can we talk about the case?"

Lanie studied Kate's face for a moment before answering, "Fine. But we _will_ talk later." When Kate nodded once, she went on with what she had called them down for.

"His blood alcohol level indicates he had that whole bottle of whiskey we found before he died, and those cuts on his body were premortem."

"So he didn't just fall in the river, get knocked out and drown." Kate concluded, receiving a nod from the ME.

"And these cuts-" She pointed "-were made by a sharp kitchen knife, probably a steak knife."

"A kitchen knife… ok, so one of the kids could've swiped it from one of the drawers-" Kate started

"-And followed step-daddy down to the riverbank." Rick finished

* * *

><p>"Miranda, we found the bloody knife that you used to kill Harley; the knife that came from <em>your<em> apartment." Kate told the teen sitting in front of her in the interrogation room. They hadn't found the knife, but she didn't need to know that.

"But I didn't do it!" The girl yelled, "I swear, I didn't kill him! I didn't…" she trailed off, as if she just realized something.

"Sam wasn't with you the whole time that morning, was he?" Kate asked, feeling like this interrogation might actually be getting somewhere.

Miranda shook her head slowly, tears coming to her eyes. "He said he was going to the store." She whispered. "And that I should stay home… Oh my God… But he couldn't have… Oh, my God."

Kate stood up. "You're free to go." She told Miranda quietly. And then she headed to the other interrogation room where Sam was waiting.

* * *

><p><em><strong>What did you think? I'd love to know! Review please! has anyone caught on to what song this murder is from? *HINT* The singer's real name is Samuel <strong>_

_***Another hint* The singer goes by a shortened version of his middle name.**_

_**(Yeah, most of probably don't care that much)**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Sam, your sister seems to have just remembered that you left the apartment the morning Harley was killed, right about the same time he was killed." Kate said as she and Rick sat down.

"I get it," Rick told the boy, "He would get drunk; knock your mom around a bit. I can see killing him for hurting her."

"I didn't kill anyone." Sam enunciated every word, trying to make them believe what he was saying.

"You're protective of your family. I saw that the first time we met. You were protective of your sister then, it wouldn't surprise me if you were just protecting your mom." Kate could see the boy's resolve faltering slightly, but he didn't break eye contact with her as she continued, "After one of his violent nights, you decided you had to do something. You followed him down to the river that morning, didn't you?"

"You knew he liked to drink, so you brought a bottle of whiskey. You got him drunk, weakened him more with the knife, and then you held him under the water until he stopped struggling." Rick said, and Sam dropped his eyes from Kate's to the table.

"Almost every night he would come home drunk, but he would always be nice to Miranda and me, and he helped pay the bills, so my mom stayed with him. When my dad died two years ago, my mom had to work two jobs just so we get by.

"My mom said she was doing it for us; so that we could have what we needed. I thought it was about time I did something for her." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, and Kate knew he wasn't going to say anything more, but she didn't need him to. She had gotten what she needed.

* * *

><p>"You know you're not going to be able to concentrate on that paperwork, right?" Rick asked Kate as she was staring blankly at a sheet of paper. Not getting a response, he put his hand on the arm was holding her head up. When her eyes snapped to his, he suggested softly, "Go talk to Lanie."<p>

Kate nodded and stood up. She walked over to the elevator, and Rick's heart broke a little. She just seemed so miserable, and he didn't know how to make it better.

"Dude," Esposito said, interrupting his thoughts. "What's wrong with Beckett?"

* * *

><p>Kate entered the elevator and tried to seem alright until the doors shut, when she leaned against the rail, resting her head against the wall and closing her eyes. She didn't know if it was worse that her daughter was beaten up, or that said daughter wouldn't tell her who did it or why.<p>

The elevator dinged, and Kate got off, heading for the morgue. She poked her head in first to make sure her friend wasn't busy, and when she saw her at her desk, Kate walked in, the clicking of her heels alerting the ME to her presence.

"You ready to talk now?" Lanie asked, and her friend nodded and jumped up so she was sitting on one of the examination tables. "What's up?" Lanie asked, sounding concerned as she walked closer to Kate.

"It's Jessie." Kate said, and some understanding showed in Lanie's eyes. "Yesterday when we came home from work, she wasn't there. She didn't come home 'til after 10 last night, and when I asked her where she was she just said 'out' and ran upstairs."

"Well, that's not too bad." Lanie told her, putting a hand on her knee.

"No, and that's what I thought. I was going to let it go, but this morning when she came downstairs she was wearing sunglasses, and I noticed something under them, so I took them off her face and she had a black eye. A really bad black eye." Lanie's eyes widened, but she could tell Kate needed to say more, so she kept silent.

"When I asked if she had any more, she showed me her stomach, which was covered in fist-shaped bruises." Something flashed in Lanie's eyes.

"Who did it?" She asked, "I know how we can get rid of the body."

Kate shook her head sadly. "I don't know." She told the ME, "Jessie refused to tell me who or why. She said she was fine, which she obviously isn't, and then went out the door." Kate didn't need to be a writer for all the worst-case scenarios to be running through her head. She has _seen_ the worst case scenarios. Things like this happen, and people end up dead.

"Hey." Lanie said, patting Kate's knee to get her attention. "Give her time and I'm sure she'll come around." Kate nodded. "Do you feel better now?" Lanie asked, and Kate shrugged.

"A little. You really think she'll be ok?" Kate's voice was full of worry.

"Girl, she'll be _fine._" Lanie assured her, "She's a Beckett. Becketts are fighters." Kate smiled slightly at that.

* * *

><p>When Kate got off the elevator and walked toward him, Rick noticed that she looked a little better than she had. The first thing she did though, when she got to her desk was check her phone. Still no messages from Jessie.<p>

"Do you want me to put a security detail on her?" Esposito asked as she sat down and turned to face him.

"How did you…" Kate started to ask, but realized what must've happened and glared accusingly at Rick, and he just looked at her desk guiltily. "What have we said about telling the boys about my personal life, Rick?" She asked, as if scolding a child.

"That you don't like it." He said quietly. Ryan and Esposito chuckled.

"Castle would never do well in an interrogation." Ryan informed Kate.

"Yeah, he broke after three questions." Esposito confirmed.

"She hasn't texted you, has she?" Kate asked Rick, worry lacing her voice. He shook his head.

"I just can't help thinking… That maybe if I'd let her come to work with us yesterday like she'd wanted to… Then maybe this wouldn't have happened." Kate whispered.

"Woah, Kate, this is in no way your fault. You didn't beat her up." Rick reassured her.

"No, but if she had been with us, she wouldn't have been wherever she was when she _was_ beaten up."

* * *

><p><em>I might have had a plan but he didn't know it<br>I might have been scared but I didn't show it  
>That's all between the river and me<br>With the current and the rocks it could have been risky  
>He might have been sober but I brought the whiskey<br>That's all between the river and me_

_I walked up to him and I said his name  
>Just so he could see the look on my face<br>We stood eye to eye and toe to toe  
>When I told him that he wasn't gonna come back home<br>He raised his fist to me but I didn't flinch  
>I said 'I ain't your son you son of a bitch'<em>

_I might have had a knife in my back pocket  
>I might have pulled it out before he saw it<br>That's all between the river and me_

_Tim McGraw – Between the River and Me_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Really, guys? I have 3 chapters up, and 4 reviews. (At least when I wrote this I had 3 chapters up. Now I obviously have 4) It makes me sad :( (<strong>__** See? Sad face)**_

_**I would really appreciate more reviews! K, thanks!**_


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you doing?" Rick whispered, causing Kate to jump in surprise.

"God, Rick. I didn't even hear you come up behind me." She told him

"What are you doing?" He repeated. She had been standing outside Jessie's bedroom door—they had officially moved in to the Castle loft, so it _was_ Jessie's door now—with her ear pressed against it.

"She's on the phone with someone, but it's too muffled, and I can't hear what they're talking about." Earlier that day, Kate had told Jessie she had to stay home that day, and Jessie had responded by locking herself in her room and she hadn't come out since.

"What have I told you about spying on your daughter?" Rick asked as he took Kate by the hand and led her away from the door.

"Well I wouldn't have to spy on her if she would just talk to me." Kate replied, allowing him to lead her down the stairs.

It had been four weeks, and Jessie was still acting strangely. She didn't seem to have any more bruises, but she would leave the loft soon after she woke up, and wouldn't come back until late at night. Kate sometimes fell asleep waiting up for her, and one night she didn't come back at all.

Sometimes food would disappear from the apartment, but when anyone asked Jessie about it, she made up an excuse or changed the subject. A few times, she had taken her guitar with her, but she wouldn't tell anyone why.

Jessie also seemed to have less money than she usually did, making Kate think she was spending her money on something illegal.

Both Kate's father and Lanie had told her to give Jessie time, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could stand this.

"I feel like I'm loosing her, Rick." Kate admitted, "She's right here, but I think I'm loosing her."

"You're not going to loose her, Kate." Rick said, hugging her.

"She's pushing us away, she barely talks to us any more, and I don't even know why" Kate whispered, and Rick could tell there was something else on her mind, so he waited for her to continue. "The way she's acting… It reminds me of the way I acted when I got pregnant with her…" She whispered even softer.

"What?" Rick asked, pulling away from the hug to look at her.

"I was never beaten up, but I was gone all day, sometimes all night." She shook her head. "It just worries me."

Jessie came running down the stairs then, and stopped in her tracks when she saw them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh… Hey." She said, coming down the stairs much slower.

"Hey, Jessie." Kate took in the look on her face. "What's up?" Jessie looked at her pleadingly.

"Can I go?" She asked, pointing to the door. "Please?"

Kate was torn. She didn't want to let her go, but the determination Jessie's face told her that she probably should, if she didn't want a fight.

"No. Just stay here for one day, that's all I'm asking." She said firmly. She didn't want to fight with her daughter, but she just needed to know she was safe a least for a day. Jessie wasn't having any of it.

"Why?" She asked angrily.

"Because I'm your mother." Kate had said before that she would never use that excuse when she was a mom. She knew it probably wasn't the best way to convince Jessie to stay home, but she said it anyway.

"You're not." Jessie whispered, shaking her head.

"What?" Kate asked , stunned.

"You're not my mom. You may be biologically, but you gave me up, remember?"

"Jessie you know I had to. You know I couldn't-"

"Don't give me that. You weren't there when I learned to walk, or talk. Where were you when I learned how to ride a bike? Where were you when I lost my first tooth?" Jessie yelled, and then she ran past Kate and Rick and out the door.

Jessie stopped as soon as the door closed behind her, and bit her lip. She felt bad. She knew how much her words would hurt Kate, and she felt _really_ bad. But she had to go. This couldn't wait until tomorrow.

On the other side of the door, Kate stood there stunned for a moment, with Rick watching her worriedly. Kate couldn't believe what Jessie had said. Did she really think Kate didn't want to be there for those things? Did she think she had _wanted_ to give her up? Kate had thought she had explained her reasoning to her, but maybe Jessie still didn't get it.

Kate gave her up, because even at 17 she knew Jessie deserved a better life than Kate could give her. Didn't she know that?

* * *

><p>Jessie poked her head in the door a few hours later to see Rick sitting on the couch, watching what sounded suspiciously like SpongeBob on the TV.<p>

"Is Mom here?" She asked, receiving a confused look from the writer.

"She's upstairs, why?" He asked

"Can you go get her?" Jessie replied, stepping completely inside before shutting the door. "Tell her I want to talk to her; that I want to talk to both of you." Rick nodded before shutting of the TV and going upstairs to get Kate. Jessie walked over and sat in one of the chairs in the living room.

When he came back down, Kate was following him, and they sat down on the couch together.

Jessie wasn't sure where to start. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She looked at Kate and said, "What I said to you today, I didn't mean it. I just needed to go right then because I didn't want her to change her mind, but I didn't have time to explain then, and I didn't want to, just in case she _did_ change her mind." She was just rambling now.

"Hold on, Jessie," Rick interrupted, "Start from the beginning. _Who_ didn't you want to change their mind?"

Jessie took another deep breath. "That day when you didn't let me go to the crime scene with you, the day this all started, I went for a walk. I'm not sure where I was planning on going; I just wanted to get out of the house.

"I saw a girl Alexis's age being beaten up. The boy beating her up was yelling at her, calling her all sorts of names, I think he was drunk too. I probably should have gotten help instead of trying to stop him myself, but that's how I got beaten up. I still don't know his name; she still won't tell me it.

"Anyway, the boy ran away, and I helped the girl. She told me she didn't have a home, that her parents had both died when she was little, and that she lived at a shelter. That's where I've been going every day."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Kate wondered out loud

"She made me promise not to. I've been giving her food, clothes, whatever she needed, because she doesn't have any money herself. I even went as far as playing my guitar in the street one day, trying to get money for her."

"What's her name?" Rick wanted to know.

"Serena." Jessie told him.

"Can we meet her?" Kate asked

"Yeah, she's waiting in the hallway, but there's one more thing." Rick and Kate looked at her curiously. "She's sixteen weeks pregnant."

* * *

><p><em>Alone in the city and she's only seventeen<em>_  
>The boy left her black and blue in the street so mean<br>Just twelve weeks along and she's got a life inside  
>Says she's never ever felt so alone<br>She walks in the shelter, they say "welcome home"_

_And we carry on_  
><em>When our lives come undone<em>  
><em>We carry on<em>  
><em>Cause there's promise in the morning sun<em>  
><em>We carry on<em>  
><em>As the dark surrenders to the dawn<em>  
><em>We were born to overcome<em>  
><em>We carry on<em>

_Tim McGraw – We Carry On_

* * *

><p><em><strong>HAHAHA, and ya'll thought Jessie was doing something illegal…<strong>_

_**If any of you know what my life is like right now, you should've seen this coming. Well, not this exactly, but a pregnancy somewhere in one of my stories. **_

_**And because most of you don't know what my life is like right now, I will tell you. My sister is pregnant. That's all I hear about, so this was bound to happen sooner or later.**_

_**And also, my parents are trying to decide what they want the kid to call them, and right now it's Garth (For Garth Brooks) and Shania (For Shania Twain). Yeah, my family is THAT weird.**_

_**Apparently this is just Tim McGraw songs now… I just realized that.**_

_**And before you guys are like, 'hey, the song says she's 12 weeks, but the story said she's 16, what's up with that? Are you incapable of understanding numbers?' When Jessie first met Serena, she was 12 weeks, but it's been 4 weeks since then, remember? (For those of you who don't want to do math over the summer, 12 + 4 = 16)**_


End file.
